Door elevating and supporting mechanism



Dec. 8, 1942. F. DITCHFIELD DOOR ELEVATING AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 3, 1941 M In fw 7/ m0 V WM 3% F. DITCHFIELD Y DQOR ELEVA'I'ING AND SUPBORTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 3, 1941;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill ilan Patented Dec. 8, 1942 OFFICE DOOR ELEVATING AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM Frank Ditchfield, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 3, 1941, Serial No. 413,504 6 Claims. (01. 16-99) This invention relates to. door elevating and supporting mechanism;

It is an object of this invention to provide mechanism which shall be capable of elevating and supporting doors, particularly sliding doors of railway house cars, by operation in either direction in a plane parallel to the doors.

A'rfurther object is to provide door elevating and supporting mechanism which shall prevent or substantially eliminate whipping action without the need of extraneous means for this pur- Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2---2 of Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 3 is a partial elevation illustrating the door in elevated position upon operation of the mechanism in clockwise direction.

Fig; 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the door in raised position upon operation of the mechanism in a counterclockwise direction.

-The metallic door Iilto which lifting and supporting mechanism embodying the instant invention is shown applied embodies metallic panel ll formed with a plurality of horizontal corrugations I2 which merge at their ends into vertical corrugations l3 and It formed in the panel adjacent to the vertical edges thereof. The lower margin of the panel is reinforced by means of an angle member l5 the vertical leg iii of whichis secured to a metallic backing plate I! which in turn is fastened to the panel I I by the horizontal rows of rivets l8 and I9. The latter .row of rivets passes through the vertical leg of the angle member as well. The horizontal leg 28 of the bottom reinforcing angle extends outwardly from the panel and serves to frictionally support the door in its lowered position upon the horizontal flange 2| of an angle track 22. The track is provided with a depending vertical flange 23 and is supported by means of a plurality of brackets 24 secured to the side sill 25 of the car underframe.

Mechanism is provided for the purpose of lifting the door above the track and supporting said door during movement along the track in the opening and closing thereof. This mechanism according to the instant invention embodies longitudinally spaced roller retainers 2B and 21 secured respectively adjacent to the forward and rear lower corners of the door. These retainers are identical in construction so that the descrip tion of one of them will sufiice for the description of the other. As illustrated retainer 26 embodies a substantially inverted U-shaped portion 28inclucling the inner and outer vertical walls 23 and 30 and a top connecting wall 3!. From the latter wall there extends upwardly an ear 32 formedwith a stud 33. The inner wall 29 is provided with a trunnion 34 and the outer Wall is provided with an alined trunnion 35 which is longer than the trunnion 34.

Each of the retainers carries a pair of rollers. With reference to retainer 26 it will be observed that the rollers 36 and 31 are rotatably supported upon pins 38 and 39 supported at their ends in the inner and outer walls 29 and 30 of the retainer.

It is to be observed that the rollers 36 and 31 are overlapped so that the distances from the centers of the trunnions 34 and 35 to the centers of the pins 38 and 39 are a minimum. It is to be observed, moreover, that by this arrangement of the rollers each serves to maintain the proper position of the other in the direction transversely to the retainer. The arrangement of the roller retainers and their rollersis preferably such that they are symmetrically disposed about a vertical plane extending through the center of the trunnions 34 and 35, as shown.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings it will be seen that the metallic panel H is coped as indicated at 40 Where the retainers and their rollers are applied to the door. The coped portions of the panel are covered by means of housing members 41 and 42 which are fastened to the panel and to the vertical flange of the bottom reinforcing angle as by means of rivets. The housing members additionally embrace the retainers and their rollers and provide bearings 43 and 44 in which the outer trunnions 35 of the roller retainers are journalled. The inner trunnions 34 of the retainers are journalled in the upstanding leg l6 of the bottom reinforcing angle l5.

Operation of the lifting and supporting h nism is obtained by means of a lever 45 mounted upon the outer trunnion 35 of the roller retainer disposed adjacent to the lower front corner of the door. The lever is retained upon the trunnion 35 by means of a substantially Z-shaped clip 46 which overlaps a guiding and retaining flange 4'! formed on the housing member 4|. The lever 45 is preferably, though not necessarily, provided with angularly related handle portions 48 and 49 so disposed that the lever is symmetrically disposed about a vertical plane extending through the center of the trunnions 34 and 35. Movement of retainer 26 upon operation of the lever 45 is communicated to roller retainer 2! by means of a connecting bar 50 the ends of which are fiattened as indicated at 5land 52 and perforated for mounting upon the studs 33.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the lifting and supporting mechanism of the instant invention is capable of operation in both directions in a plane parallel to the door. In this manner the utility of the mechanism is greatly enhanced. When a pull is exerted upon the lever 45 in a clockwise direction rotation of the roller retainers 26 and 21 and consequent elevation of the door about the rollers 31 takes place. At this time the door is supported upon the rollers 31 and may readily be moved along the track.

Similarly, elevation of the door may be obtained by actuation of the lever in a counter-clockwise direction, whereupon the roller retainers are rotated about the trunnions 34 and 35 and lifting of the doortakes place about the rollers 36. The

door is now supported upon these rollers and may be easily moved along the track. Simultaneous movement of the retainers is secured by means of the connecting bar 50.

The instant invention not only provides lifting and supporting mechanism operable in both di- :5.

rections in a plane parallel to the door but provides such a mechanism which essentially prevents whipping action of the lever. This follows :from the employment of two rollers in each retainer which in cooperation with the door track prevents the lever from swinging in either direction when the door is lowered. The distribution of the Weight of the parts of the mechanism further contributes toward this end. Moreover, by reason of the double action of the mechanism, damage thereto by improper operation of the lever is obviated. This follows from the fact that a pull upon the lever in either direction results in lifting of the door. In the roller lifting andl'supporting mechanism employed prior to the present invention wherein operation of the lever is limited to one direction only accidental opera,- tion of the lever in the opposite direction resulted in damage to the connecting rod and to the trunnions.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the'art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes he comprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

I. Door lifting and supporting mehanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying III a pair of rollers, the axes of the rollers of each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnions, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions, each retainer and pair of rollers carried thereby being disposed symmetrically about a vertical plane including the axis of the trunnions on said retainer.

2. Door lifting and supporting mechanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying a pair of rollers, the axes of the rollersof each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnions, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions, each retainer and pair of rollers carried thereby being disposed symmetrically about a vertical plane including the axis of the trunnions on said retainer, said lever being disposed symmetrically about a vertical plane including the axis of the trunnion on which that lever is mounted.

3. Door lifting and supporting mechanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying a pair of overlapping rollers, the axes of the rollers of each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnions, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions, each retainer and a pair of rollers carried thereby being disposed symmetrically about a vertical plane including the axis of the trunnions on said retainer.

4. Door lifting and supporting mechanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying a pair of rollers, the axes of the rollers of each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnions, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions, the weight of each retainer and its rollers being equally distributed on opposite sides of a vertical plane including the axis of said trunnions.

5. Door lifting and supporting mechanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying a pair of overlapping rollers, the axes of the rollers of each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnion, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions.

6. Door lifting and supporting mechanism comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced retainers, each of said retainers having trunnions adapted to be journalled in said door and carrying a pair of rollers, the axes of the rollers of each retainer lying on opposite sides of the axis of said trunnions, a bar connecting said retainers for simultaneous movement and a lever mounted on one of said trunnions.

FRANK DITCHFIELD. 

